Touching Wood!

First things first...somehow I forgot to mention the most dramatic news of the trip so far! About a week ago we were riding along a section of bike path which deviated strangely, so that you had to go sharply off a road onto the path and then after only 50m or so had to turn sharply again back on to the road. As the second sharp turn was a little unexpected, it caused some sudden stopping and a bit of a 'traffic' jam at the turn.

Unfortunately, in the confusion one rider clipped the back wheel of another rider, albeit at very slow speed, but still causing Marilyn to fall off her bike. Or rather, causing her bike to fall on her, and very awkwardly so that although she was still somewhat standing, her bike and left leg were on the ground. And the sad conclusion being a broken ankle! It is such a shame to loose any rider so early on in the trip, particularly considering the planning that goes into it, even for those ceasing their trip in Istanbul. So, Marilyn and her husband Murray unfortunately had to fly home to Canada. We have heard since that she does not require an operation that was initially thought to be required to pin the break, so that is one piece of good news in the situation at least.

So, back to the riding...and in it's midst some more, and unfortunately more serious, injury stories...

13-Jun-08: Soccer Fever
Germany: Ulm to Eggelstetten
94.5km, 4h 33min riding

A pleasant day of riding with a very cold start! Nothing to prevent an easy ride into camp, arriving in the early afternoon...

The campsite had a little log cabin, housing a bar, which was full of a very eclectic mix of all manner of items from toy cars to box brownie cameras. We settled in after dinner and watched the Euro Cup Football (aka Soccer) match between the Netherlands and France, both Countries for which we had supporters in our riding companions and so had some vocal and opposing support. The Netherlands won 4-1 in what I am told was a good match...I went to bed at half time!

14-Jun-08: Inspiring Poetic Prose
Germany: Eggelstetetten to Kipfenberg
100km, 4h 51min riding

Once again the day started quite cold but warmed up to pleasant weather for riding. We started on the Danube cycleway and then departed from it to a more scenic route which took us on to a beautiful bike path which meandered through multicoloured patchwork fields surrounded by rolling grass covered hills which were peppered with rock formations and the occasional tree. The path continued alongside calm waterways which were shaded by weeping trees reaching down with their branches to tickle the water's surface and gave shade to families rafting in the river. The trail then led us through little townships nestled at the base of hillsides guarded by an army of of pine trees and rock soldiers. It was a day which inspired creation of some poetic prose whilst riding along thinking 'now how do I put this in to words so that others can even come close to visualising how beautiful this is...'!

The cycle path was very popular and we were passing other bike riders and the occasional rock climber on the path all day long and eventually the path moved from the tranquility into what could be likened to the main street of a theme park! We had ridden into the township of Eichstatt and stumbled upon a medieval festival. Of course we stopped to take part in the festivities and managed to finally hunt down Brattwurst sausages and sat by the river and ate Gelati watching couples row by in river boats before making our way into camp for the night.

15-Jun-08: Gravel Symphony
Germany: Kipfenburg to Regensberg
105km, 5h 12min riding

Today's path was 30-40km of hard packed gravel, which under pressure of 8 bicycle tyres in unison, recited its own ever-present symphony of crunching with the occasional interlude of tranquility as the voice of the of gravel gave way to the silence of bitumen.

Riding into Regensberg we took part in another round of ribbon hunt...the means of directing us into our campsite or hotel when the directions are too difficult to give in writing. We are directed by a series of pink ribbons tied to street signs, bushes, garbage cans or whatever a ribbon can be attached to, so that if we keep our eyes peeled we eventually wind up the right place. Although, you can ride along thinking 'I hope we didn't miss a ribbon' as it can be up to 5km between ribbons when riding through the countryside along straight-ish roads into a campsite! Or in this case a hotel...

16-Jun-08: A World Away
Germany: Regensberg – Rest Day

Regensberg is a pretty, mid-sized township, the centre of which is completely pedestrianised. The usual 'rest day' activities of laundry, shopping and internet were made more entertaining by our sporadic and eventually unsuccessful hunt for a decent internet cafe. The first of which we had been directed to either did not exist or was completely mis-directed as circumnavigation of all blocks surrounding the supposed location were unsuccessful. Attempt 2 resulted in discovery of a very dodgy internet cafe which had a blacked-out front door which required you to buzz to get in...and inside housed an array of computer terminals each in their own little cubicle, with curtains and an alcoholic drinks list! At best a conduit for illegal internet gambling...at worst a pornography cafe! Thankfully their computers ran a weird interface which did not recognise my hard drive and gave us excuse to promptly exit the facility!

As many of the group trekked across town in search of a suitable location to watch yet more Euro Cup football, a few of us sourced out the least likely place to be overrun by football spectators...a sushi restaurant...and had dinner there. Although they did still screen the game and we bore witness to the single German goal so were still in the sporting loop!

Today was a day of realisation for me...realisation of how far I am away from home and the life I led pre-departure...I am a world away in every respect and still find it difficult to comprehend that I will be following this routine for another 5 months! I am consumed by the necessity of each daily task...waking up in time to get to breakfast before the muesli runs out, putting on enough sunscreen, whether or not to pack rain gear or wear arm warmers, packing the tent, figuring out how to dry the wet tent, how to wash and dry clothes, knowing where to go, staying safe and riding the distance. There is so little room left for anything else...to the point where I am sure those left back at home are feeling a little neglected and unloved...but that is not the case. It is like watching two subtitled films...in order to fully appreciate one the other needs to be placed on paused. That is the best way I can think to describe how it feels to be here. It is a little bewildering and daunting at times, but a great experience as it should be...

17-Jun-08: Barely Raised a Sweat
Germany: Regensberg to Straubing
53km, 2h 48min riding

A rare and much appreciated short day of riding...indicated foremostly by the daily instructions which dictate that lunch will be served at camp...rather than the usual half-way point!

Following lunch at camp we walked in to the town of Straubing, which much to our surprise and delight was a beautiful town much larger than its comparatively unknown name suggested. We sat in a local cafe for a beer and an afternoon snack. And had a successful afternoon of shopping, finally tracking down a travel chess/checkers game to extend the variety of campsite entertainment.

18-Jun-08: Accidents Do Happen
Germany: Straubing to Passau
100km, 4h 33min riding

You know you have turned a corner weather wise when the first line in your diary reads 'usual pleasant riding'...how easy it is to forget that only a week or so ago the usual was cold, wet and wetter! There is a uniformity about the populated European cities and towns we have been passing through and although always pleasant and sometimes outstandingly beautiful, it is still familiar in its western ways and I for one look forward to the unknown elements of places which are not so familiar. Having said so, we are doing our best to appreciate and make the most of western luxuries which we know will become scarcer the further east we move so still have source of pleasure, albeit familiar. Such luxuries include many cafe stops en-route to sample the local coffee, pastries, iced-chocolates or whatever decadence can fall under the reasoning 'soon we won't be able to get these so we had better make the most of it'. In the absence of little else bar forgiving Lycra, my newly purchased travel jeans are my measure of waistline dimension...if they become restrictive then it will be time to cut back on the indulgences!

Almost as if to highlight the insignificance of waistline dimensions, today took a sad turn when our riding companion and resident grandfather, Neil 81, was involved in an accident with a tractor. As we understand, it seems as though he became unstable on his bike and veered into the path of the articulated trailer of a tractor. Sadly the tractor ran over him after he fell to the ground, which resulted in internal bleeding and a broken pelvis, for which he was required to undergo surgery for. The latest news we have received is that he is now in an induced coma in intensive care in a hospital in the German town of Vilshofen. As we came upon the scene of the accident just after departure of the ambulance, we had a very quiet ride into camp as we all reflected on the event in our own way.

Once we arrived into camp there was little we could do but wait for further news on Neil, so we wandered into the town of Passau and without particularly looking for it, although we knew it was there, stumbled through a side door of the cathedral housing the largest pipe organ in the world. The cathedral was beautiful inside and we were sad to have missed the organ recital which took place at midday...

19-Jun-08: Beware of Ticks
Germany/Austria: Passau to Linz
104km, 4h 45min riding

We were torn between the desire to stay and watch the organ recital in Passau and the desire to avoid departing after lunch and therefore not arriving into camp until well into the evening. The latter desire won out and in hindsight we were glad as the temperature climbed into the afternoon as we got our first taste of the European summer to come.

A few kilometres outside Passau we said goodbye to Germany as we crossed into Austria and a whole new world. Almost as if the Austrians have a larger shareholding in the weather, the temperature soared into the afternoon. The campsite in Linz was located adjacent to a gigantic public park surrounding a lake. On the opposite side of the lake was a nudist beach, although the locals did not seem to see this as limitation as they stripped off everywhere and anywhere...getting naked seems to be a favourite pastime in Austria!

Waiting for us in our slightly overgrown campsite was a notice board, prepared by our tour nurse, entitled 'Lesson on Nasty Austrian Ticks'...which promptly brought on a bought of psychological itching amongst us all! The ticks carry a serious form of encephalitis against which the entire population of Austria has been immunised for, so we are now all on the lookout for the nasty little creatures!

During the day my bike began making some concerning noises, which on review at the lunch truck was deemed to be broken ball bearings in my shimano equivalent dynamo hub which powers my bike lights. The result being my having to swap my front wheel for one of the non-riding staff's wheels and finish the day. Much to the delight of interested onlookers Olivie, our resident french mechanic, dismantled the hub and gave it a good clean but as proved by the following day of riding was unable to remove all fragments of the faulty ball bearings...so I am now in search of a new front wheel and need to effect a warranty claim...did I mention just being here is already a full time job?!

20-Jun-08: Scars From the Past
Austria: Linz to Emmersdorf
109km (incl. detour), 4h 34min riding

Today cycling played a backseat role to the day's highlight (or lowlight, depending on how you think about it) being our detour from the directed route, to the nearby ex-Natzi concentration camp located just outside the town of Mathausen.

I can't say that I particularly enjoyed the visit...how could anyone 'enjoy' such atrocities...but in any case, am glad I went. Admittedly, it didn't take long for my protection mechanisms to kick in, beyond which point not much sunk in. But in light of the little of what I did absorb, I could not even begin to imagine what these poor people must have gone through and was struck by the courage and clear presence of the human spirit and will to live that the strongest of them had.

We viewed a film on the history of the camp which included interviews with local surrounding residents and members of the American military which ultimately came to the rescue. Still to this day the army officers choke back tears in recalling how on their first day they buried 1200 people who had died of starvation and continued to do so at a rate of 300 people per day as they were too weak to eat. Walking around the camp was eerie and I could not bring myself to take photos of the gas chambers, crematoriums or even the memorials. All I could do was reflect on how any human could do such a thing to another living soul and was grateful that my presence there was simply as a visitor.

Our mid-morning 2 hour visit to the camp after only about 20km made for a very long cycling day and we arrived in to camp and the smell of dinner being prepared.

21-Jun-08: Too Much Skin
Austria: Emmersdorf to Vienna
115km, 5h 7min riding

Things do not always go quite according to plan and today was no exception to this rule. We rose early so that we could get a good start in the hope of arriving into Vienna early before the shops, bike shops in particular, closed on Saturday. After only riding 100m on my not-quite-right front wheel, as my loan wheel was needed by its owner, it became very apparent that somewhere between being just noisy and taken off in favour of a quieter ride, it was now buckled. So I pushed it back in to camp where the mechanic and owner of my previously loaned wheel were still getting ready to leave and some jostlsting of wheels and exchanging of bikes later, we all had a rideable solution and I was on my way...an hour after I had planned to leave!

The riding day started out by frequently passing through little river-side townships with cobblestoned streets but at about half way became a straight cycle path alongside the Danube. It is the first day of the European Summer and the Austrian heat has made no attempt to conceal the fact. The combined effect of rising temperatures, a somewhat monotonous cycle path and the 5th consecutive and comparatively long day of riding did start to take its toll at about 75km at which point we gave in to the need for shade and our peanut butter sandwiches. In an attempt to give our minds something else to think about other than watching the kilometres slowly ticking over, we spent the afternoon riding a sequence of 1km sprint followed by 2km of relaxed riding...it was a great distraction and we were soon in Vienna and at 2.30pm, earlier than we had expected.

Riding in to Vienna was certainly an interesting experience as the Austrians continued to display their love of all things natural. Within 1-2 metres from the edge of the bike path we passed dozens of naked people enjoying the summer sun...including a family, with kids jumping on a trampoline and a man standing completely starkers whilst fishing...certainly an eye opener, and rarely a pleasant one!!!

In hunt for a new front wheel we tried to find an open bike shop in Vienna as soon as we arrived, knowing that everything would be closed on our Sunday rest day, but with no luck. So in light of our first day riding out of Vienna being a short 60km, I will be hanging about in Vienna to source a new front wheel prior to leaving the city.

Oh, and it is happening so often now it is almost not news anymore! Another rider took a tumble today as a consequence of looking at the sky and not where he was going, resulting in a broken collar bone! So we are 3 weeks in and 3 riders (and 1 husband) down already!

22-Jun-08: Vienna or Barcelona?
Austria: Vienna - Rest Day

Again, the usual rest day tasks have occupied most of today, starting at 5.30am when I ventured up to the single washing machine located on the 6th floor of the hotel to join the already in progress queue to do laundry. And am now in an internet cafe, where I have been for the past 2-3 hours catching up on email and writing this, my latest blog entry.

We broke the day with a short walk into the city centre to have a look at Vienna, which is currently completely overrun by Spaniards and Italians all here for tonight's Euro Cup game between Spain and Italy. The Spanish fans are very vocal and on quite a few occasions today you would be forgiven for thinking you were in downtown Barcelona!

We are certainly getting a taste of things to come weather wise and today is baking hot in the shade and even hotter in the sun...we must be in mid 30's temperature wise. Nothing that can't be fixed by a dirty great big ice cream sundae in an airconditioned plaza!

'till next time x